(Tennis news) The men’s draw saw the biggest casualty yet as the second round began in the 2022 Australian Open. Hubert Hurkacz at no point of time had hopes of making a comeback against Adrian Mannarino and it was also doomsday for Belinda Bencic as she was beaten by Amanda Anisimova. The doubles matches started today in both the draws.
Hurkacz movement around the court was nowhere near Mannarino who fought till the last point of the match. The 10th seed seemed to be very rigid during the rallies as the left hander did not let any service breaks go to vain. Mannarino has never gone past the third round and will be eager to reach when he faces Aslan Karatsev in the next round. Mannarino defeated Hurkacz 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Sebastian Korda picked up his first five set victory over Corentin Moutet in a match that lasted for almost five hours. Moutet kept attacking from the baseline with his forehand as Korda kept coming to the net and finished most of his points standing in the front. The world number 100 kept most of his strokes in the safezone while the next gen player had 92 unforced errors. In the 8th game of the deciding set, Korda surprised the whole court with a forced late reaction dropshot which left Moutet staring in agony as the chair umpire confirmed it being a legitimate shot. Korda defeated Moutet 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(2-7), 7-5, 7-6(10-6).
Karen Khachanov was an all rounder in his second round match against Benjamin Bonzi. The Russian hit 46 winners with his forehand causing the most trouble and served 19 aces. Bonzi had his chances to take it to the tiebreak in the third set but an unforced error gave Khachanov a breakpoint and a route to the third round. Khachanov defeated Bonzi 6-4, 6-0, 7-5.
In women’s singles, Tokyo Olympics singles gold medallist Belinda Bencic was beaten in straight sets by Amanda Anisimova. Bencic broke Amanda’s serve in the first game of the match but could only do it twice in the whole match. The 20 year old had 13 breakpoints in the match and could only win 5 of them but it was enough for a first time win against Bencic in their second career meeting. Amanda defeated Bencic 6-2, 7-5.
Victoria Azarenka only needed 72 minutes to beat Jil Teichmann in a one sided match. Azarenka had four breakpoints in the match which she won and Teichmann had 5 of them in the first set but could not convert any. Teichmann was also winning more points in the 1st serve overall but could only win 5 of the 24 second serves and lost 5 consecutive games in the second set. Azarenka defeated Teichmann 6-1, 6-2.
In men’s doubles, the Dutch pair of Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp beat the 15th seeded pair of Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arévalo in a match that lasted for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Rojer and Arévalo lost 6 of the 7 breakpoints they had as it denied them the crucial points while Haase and Zandschulp had only won 1 of their 2 breakpoints. The numbers were against the winning pair but they played well to take the final set. Haase and Zandschulp defeated 6-7(5-7), 7-6(10-8), 10-8.
In women’s doubles, Rebecca Peterson and Anastasia Potapova beat Nina Stojanović and Irina-Camelia Begu in a 1st round upset. Rebecca and Anastasia served 8 double faults but that didn’t stop the pair in making a comeback in the deciding set to defeat Stojanović and Irina 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Also read: Kerber, Kvitova and Isner knocked in opening round of Australian Open
